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ToC

Access to Source

Two of the freedom that I enumerated, (1) the ability to study a program and adapt it and (2) the ability to distribute changes, require access to computer source code.

Restriction of access to source code is done both technically and legally.

The famous car metaphor:

  • Would you buy a car whose hood it was illegal to open?

  • Would you by a car with the hood welded shut?

  • What if breaking the weld points was a criminal offense?

This is similar what you are doing when you buy, support and develop non-free software.